Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

OFF-ROAD BEST IN THE DESERT SILVER STATE SERIES putting in a good ride. I'm really happy with the win." The $]000 prize for the Open Pro win netted the Kawasaki Team Green riders a grand total of about $] 00. "We won something like $1000 and the entry fee was about $900, so it's not a lot of money but it's still an important win for Kawasaki," Ondas said. The second-place Open Pro finishers, privateers Hamel and Belingheri, were among the fre hest racers at the finish line. . "We changed riders just about every 50 miles and breaking it up like that worked really well," Hamel said. "We were fresh all day. Pretty much all the course - about 90 percent - was fast. There was very little slow stuff except for Hummer Canyon. That was between five and six, and it was really short - like a quarter of a mile. It was a skinny downhill canyon, really tight. 1 had to be in second gear and 1 don't know how the Hummers are going to get down there. They may get wedged forever." Despite a disaster late in the race, Abbott brought the Vosburg Racing 360cc KTM he shared with Harden home in third overall, less than a minute behind the second-place finishers. "He got off really hard in the last loop and hurt his hand," Harden said, explaining Abbott's fast departure from the finish line. He's having it looked at now. We collected a rock at the beginning that damaged the exhaust and hurt the power. The pipe is now almost closed out of the header and if that hadn't happened we would've beenin even better shape. But we'll take a third. I'm happy about that." Nick and Russ Pearson brought their factory-backed KTM 250cc home at the head of the 250cc Pro pack in fourth overall with a total elapsed time of 5 hours and 27 minutes. "We were first 250 on the start and never got passed by another 250 all day," older brother Nick said. "We would've been faster on an open bike they were pulling us, especially between the third and fourth pits, but it was a good course all in all and we had a perfect ride all the way." Fifth overall went to the Capt/Staab Honda, which lost fourth to the Pearsons during a late-in-the-race filter change, and 250cc Pros Steve Hengeveld and Oakley Lehman took sixth, 10 minutes behind their class winners. "We rode as hard as we could but we didn't put any time on them," Team Green's Lehman said. "We will have to get a couple more miles an hour out of the bike for the next race." Tex Mitchell and Ron Wilson took the honors in the Heavyweight FourStroke class in seventh overall, despite riding a resurrected prerunner tha t dated back to 1992. . "It sure needed some help," Mitchell said. "We got a lot of support from Honda and we really have to thank Johnny and Jamie Campbell for all their hard work. They really took care of us getting parts for the bike. We had a great day and we never hit the ground, although we carne close once or twice." The three-way battle in the Over 30 Pro division was won byKTM 300 pilots Daryl Folks and Jack Johnson who finished eighth overall, beating out Vetclass rivals Darrol and Kevin Brown by half a minute, with a mere four seconds back to third-placed Mike Longtine and Dick Wipe, who completed the last section of the race on a rear fla t. "The partner 1 had planned to ride with got hurt a week and a half ago, so Johnson rode 62 miles in the middle of (Right) KTM-mounted Nick and Russell Pearson topped the 250cc Pro class to finish fourth overall. (Below) Privateers Dave Hamel and Dennis Bellngheri took their KX500 to second overall. Tonopah 300 Tonopah,Nevada Results: March 29, 1997 (Round 1 of 3) the race so 1 could take a break and get some groceries in me," Folks said. "The course was awesome. Long-distance offroad races are generally fast but I think this one was broken up well with sand washes and two-tracks, so it never got too long and boring. It shifted gears on you." "We were making up time in the last section," Over 30 second-place finisher Darrol Brown said. "And we're not tired yet. If it was a hundred miles longer, we could've won it." Eleventh overall went to American Honda-backed XR628 racers Jamie Campbell and 16-year-old Casey Longman, who finished three minutes ahead of the first Sportsman entry to reach the checkered flag - Over 30 Expert racers Glenn Taylor and Marc McManus, who were high in the running all day. Honors in the Lightweight Four- Stroke Pro division went to Hondamounted Casey McCoy and Tony Megla in 20th overall. Lewis finished his solo ride in 22nd overall, just three minutes behind top lronman finisher Bill Maxim, who piloted a KX500 to victory in the Ironman Expert class, and Quint Betts and John Spaeth rode to victory on their KXI25 in 24th overall. "It was an easy course but it's really rough on a bike like this," Lewis said. "1 saved 15 to 20 seconds in each pit because 1 only gassed the bike once but 1 probably lost five seconds every time 1 turned a corner because of the weight of the bike. There's no way r could compete against bikes that are set up to race in this terrain, but if the race was 15 days and 6,000 miles longer, 1 have no doubt that 1 would've won it." ~ OIA:. 1. Dave Ondas/Donnie Book (Kaw); 2. Dave Hamel/Dennis Befingheri (Kaw); 3. Destry Abbott/Scot Harden (KTM); 4. Nick Pearson/Russell Pearson (KTM); 5. Jeff Capt/Tim Staab (Hon); 6. Steve Hengeveld/Oakley Lehman (Kaw); 7. Tex Mitchell/Ron Wilson (Hon); 8. Daryl Folks/Jack Johnson (KTM); 9. Darrol Brown/Keith Brown (Hon); 10. Mike Longtine/Richard Wilk (KTM); 11. Jamie Campbell/ Casey Longman (Hon); 12. Glenn Taylor/Marc McManus (KTM); 13: Rick Bozarth/Jim Gray (KTM); 14. Grant Palenske/Rick Daniel (Yam); 15. Cory Ayers/Mark Morris (Hon); 16. ick Fain/Josh Wilson (Han); 17. Keith Cayton/Rick Aldridge (Kaw); 18. Matt Burroughs/Doug Chiapuzio (Yam); 19. Bill Maxim (Kaw); 2Q. Casey McCoy/Tony Megla (Hon); 21. Darryl Curtis/Riaan Van Hiekerk (KTM); 22. jimmy Lewis (KTM); 23. Craig Hunter/John KnweU (Hon); 24. Quint Betts/john Spaeth (Kaw); 25. Kenneth l.arscn/DaJe Morse/Todd Milano (KTM); 26. Ron t..1wson/Cary Jones O

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